Additive fabrication of nanostructures with focused soft X-rays

Abstract

We report on a novel technique for the fabrication of metallic nanostructures via soft X-ray irradiation of precursor molecules supplied from the gas phase. With this technique we were able to produce localized Co nanostructures with a growth rate and purity competitive with electron beam induced deposition. We demonstrate that our approach exhibits significant selectivity with respect to incident photon energy leading to enhanced growth for resonant absorption energy of the precursor molecule. Based on this finding we propose a unique new pathway of selective deposition from precursor mixtures. Furthermore, we investigated the growth rate with respect to precursor pressure and growth time and discuss the potential resolution limits of this new technique.